Thursday, June 14, 2012

Aspetuck Land Trust and Connecticut Audubon Society vernal pool walk

In late May, the Aspetuck Land Trust set up a vernal pool walk for kids at the Trout Brook Valley Preserve led by our own Conservation Biologist Dr. Twan Leenders, one of the best and most experienced herpetologists in the world. I joined Twan along with Sean Graesser, one of our Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds technicians. We met at the orchard and proceeded into the woods where Twan had a couple pools staked out for us.

He found some pools that still had water (it had been quite dry until then as opposed to the last couple of weeks) and that would not be injured by children hopping through them (they were without critical species or eggs). The best kind of education can be the wet and muddy kind, and all of the kids (and parents!) had a blast hopping after frogs and searching for salamanders.

A friendly Spotted Salamander

A hugeeeee snake skin Twan had found a couple days before

Looking here there and everywhere

Catch one?

We had a big crew

There's a happy catch!

Another salamander making visits

It turns out that they were better than expected as one of the kids turned up this tremendous find well away from the pool on the way out, a species Twan himself sees only a couple of times a year in the state, a Four-toed Salamander. So many of these species are extremely difficult to find outside of a few nights every year.

A tiny species

It curls up in the leaf little for passive defense and can also shed its tail

He expected to find one here considering the habitat requirements and some of the high-quality pools, but this was real conservation science in action. Everyone got a great look, and Twan took some great shots of it later on, including this one.

Who are we?

Connecticut Audubon Society conserves Connecticut’s environment through science-based education and advocacy focused on the state’s bird populations and habitats. Founded in 1898, Connecticut Audubon Society operates nature facilities in Fairfield, Milford, Glastonbury and Pomfret as well as an EcoTravel office in Essex and an Environmental Advocacy program in Hartford. Connecticut Audubon Society manages 19 wildlife sanctuaries around the state, preserves over 2,600 acres of open space in Connecticut and educates over 200,000 children and adults annually. Working exclusively in the state of Connecticut for over 100 years, Connecticut Audubon Society is an independent organization, not affiliated with any national or governmental group.